A Year In Bitcoin: Why We'll Still Care About The Cryptocurrency Even If It Fades

ReadWriteReflect offers a look back at major technology trends, products and companies of the past year. In mid-December 2013, Bitcoin took one of its most dramatic nosedives yet. Following a crackdown on yuan-to-bitcoin deposits in China , the price of one bitcoin dropped below as $540, less than half of its all time high in late November, $1,242. (It's since bounced back to around $730.) Bitcoin’s true believers aren’t treating its latest gyrations as a cause for panic. It’s not the first time Bitcoin crashed hard, and it’s not going to be the last. But it’s a further reminder, in case you needed one, that Bitcoin is volatile, and what it’s supposedly worth today may bear no relation whatsoever to what it'll be worth tomorrow. It’s been a big year for Bitcoin, the unlikely currency that started as a fad for cryptology nuts and ended as a mainstream obsession that had man...